The House of Ahlefeldt is an ancient

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Danish

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

. It has identical coat of arms with the von Rumohr, von Bosendahl and von Rastorp

German noble families German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

, which indicates that they have descended from one House.

Legend

According to the legend, the family descended from "Hunold" Hunoldus comes de Schwabeck, whose great-grandson Konrad (Conradus baron de Alhefeld) 1152 participated in the murder of

Herman II, Count of Winzenburg Herman II, Count of Winzenburg (died 29 January 1152) was a son of Herman I, Count of Winzenburg and his second wife, Hedwig. She was either Hedwig of Assel-Woltingerode or Hedwig of Carniola-Istria. Herman II succeeded his father as Count of ...

, and then, in 1153, he went to serve King Sven III. In 1154 Konrad was overthrown, and he and his family had to flee from Denmark. However, written of records and evidence of these events are unavailable.

Origins

The family originated in Westensee, near

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The earliest known ancestor is ''Benedictus de Prodole'' (d. circa 1340) from Perdöl, whose son and grandsons served King Waldemar of Denmark and received significant pawn fiefs and properties in Denmark. Descendants of his brother, ''Scacco de Prodole'', also known as ''Scacco de Rumore'' were members of the ''House of Rumohr''. Two other German noble houses belonged to the same

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

and had identical coat of arms: ''von Bosendahl'' and ''von Rastorp'', but both went extinct, the first in 1535 and the latter in 1749. In

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been div ...

the family inherited estates Søgård, Nør, Königsförde-Lindau, Sakstorp and

Gelting Gelting is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the Baltic Sea, approx. 33 km northeast of Schleswig, and 30 km east of Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Dan ...

. In Holstein, Bossee, Lehmkulen, Wittmold, Deutsch-Nienhof, Emkendorf, Kl. Nordsee, Haseldorf and Fresenburg. Godske von Ahlefeldt (d. 1541) was the last

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Bishop of Schleswig The List of the Bishops of Schleswig contains the names of the bishops of the see in Schleswig (, ) in chronological order. Also Lutheran bishops, who officiated after 1542, superintendents and general superintendents are listed. Note Between 94 ...

Imperial Counts of Rixingen

Friedrich von Ahlefeldt (1623-1686) was raised ''ad personam'' in 1665 to ''Heiliger Römischer Reichsgraf'',

Count of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

in immediate vassalage to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

. But in 1669 he bought the County of Rixingen (later passed to the

Dukes of Richelieu Duke of Richelieu () was a title of French nobility. It was created on 26 November 1629 for Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (known as Cardinal Richelieu) who, as a Catholic clergyman, had no issue to pass it down to. It instead passed to hi ...

in 1751), thus becoming the real sovereign count. Friedrich's daughter, Countess Christiane von Ahlefeldt-Rixingen (1659-1695) from his first marriage to Countess Magarethe Dorothea zu Rantzau (1642-1665) married

Frederick Louis, Count of Nassau-Ottweiler Frederick Louis of Nassau-Ottweiler (13 November 1651 – 25 May 1728) was a member of the House of Nassau. Biography He was born in Ottweiler, the son of John Louis, Count of Nassau-Ottweiler and Countess Palatine Dorothea Catherine of Bir ...

. His two daughters from his second marriage to Countess Marie Elisabeth zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg (1648-1724), Countess Charlotte Sibylla (1672-1726) married Count Georg Ludwig zu Solms-Rödelheim (1664-1715) and Countess Sophie Amalie von Ahlefeldt-Rixingen married

Prince Frederick William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg Prince Frederick William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (18 November 16683 June 1714) was a member of the House of Oldenburg and a Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. Biography He was the youngest son of Duke Ern ...

. His two sons followed him as Governors in Schleswig and Holstein. The son from his first marriage, Count Friedrich von Ahlefedt (1662–1708), married Christiane Charlotte Gyldenløve in 1687, an illegitimate daughter of King Christian V of Denmark with Sophie Amalie Moth, Countess of Samsøe. His son from his second marriage, Count Carl von Ahlefeldt, inherited the dominions of Rixingen and Mörsberg in 1686, which he later passed on to his brother-in-law, Count Friedrich Ludwig von Nassau-Ottweiler. After the death of his older half-brother in 1708 Carl inherited the county of

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

with Tranekær Castle.

Denmark line

His kinsman, High royal councillor Burchard von Ahlefeldt received in 1672 letters patent as Danish count and the position of Lensgrave. He inherited the county of

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

which was later inherited by his cousins, Imperial Counts von Ahlefeldt. One of his grandsons, Count Christian von Ahlefeldt inherited the county of

Laurvig Larvik () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Larvik (town) ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, one of the two official counties ever in that country (the other was

Jarlsberg Jarlsberg was a former countship that forms a part of today's Vestfold county in Norway. The name translates as "Earl's Hill". The former countships of Jarlsberg and Larvik were merged into a county in 1821. Jarlsberg and Larvik's County (''Jarl ...

, which belonged to the House of Wedel). In 1785 he received the royal licence to himself and his descendants to bear the name Ahlefeldt-Laurvig and later Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille.

Holdings

The Ahlefeldt family accumulated large holdings of land on the territories of today's Germany and Denmark: * Olpenitz (at

Kappeln Kappeln () is a town in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the north bank of the Schlei, approx. northeast of Schleswig, and southeast of Flensburg. For the eastern Angeln and the northern S ...

) * Saxtorf (at

Schwansen Schwansen ( or ''Svansø'', meaning "swan island/peninsula") is a peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Baltic Sea. It is located between Eckernförde Bay to the south and the Schlei inlet to the north. The Danish dia ...

) * Königsförde-Lindau (at the

Eider Canal The Eider Canal (also called the Schleswig-Holstein Canal) was an artificial waterway in southern Denmark (later northern Germany) which connected the North Sea with the Baltic Sea by way of the rivers Eider and Levensau. Constructed between ...

) * County of

Langeland Langeland (, ) is a Danish island located between the Great Belt and Bay of Kiel. The island measures 285 km2 (c. 110 square miles) and, as of 1 January 2018, has a population of 12,446.

with Tranekær Castle * Barony of Lehn *

Egeskov Castle Egeskov Castle () is located near Kværndrup, in the south of the island of Funen, Denmark. The castle is Europe's best preserved Renaissance water castle. History Egeskov was first mentioned in 1405. The castle structure was erected by Frands B ...

* Tranekær Castle,

Eriksholm Castle Eriksholm Castle is a manor house located at the foot of the Isefjord inlet, 6 km south-east of Holbæk, in east Denmark. The history of the estate dates back to 1400 but today's house was built in 1788 to a Neoclassical design by Caspar Fre ...

, Fjællebro, Hjortholm, Møllerup, Skovsbo and Ulstrup Castle.

Gallery

File:Detlev von Ahlefeldt (1480-1572).jpg, Detlev von Ahlefeldt (1480-1572) File:Benedikt von Ahlefeldt (1492-1513).jpg, Benedikt von Ahlefeldt (1492-1513) File:Hans von Ahlefeldt (1620-1694) 01.jpg, Hans von Ahlefeldt (1620-1694) File:Burchard von Ahlefeldt (1634-1695).jpg, Burchard von Ahlefeldt (1634-1695)

References

{{Commons category Danish noble families German noble families